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Abstract

The paper evaluates various roles (direct antecedent, mediator or moderator) of perceived switching costs in determining customer loyalty in the mobile telecommunications market. Data were collected through a field survey of mobile phone users in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate hypothesized relationships. Perceived switching costs were found to play all three roles. Findings suggest that perceived switching costs directly influence customer loyalty, mediate the impacts of perceived service quality, value, and trust on customer loyalty and negatively moderate the relationships of satisfaction and perceived service quality with customer loyalty. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Conceptual Model And Hypotheses Development

This paper adopts the attitudinal approach to customer loyalty, reflected and measured by customer preference, likelihood to recommend, and intention to re-patronize a preferred service. Several authors advocate this approach because it emphasizes cognitive and affective loyalty aspects and differentiates true from spurious loyalty (de Matos et al., 2009; Javadein, Khanlari, & Estiri, 2008). Adoption of this attitudinal concept also allows use of cross-sectional data available for this study.

There are many possible antecedents of customer loyalty in general services industries. Research into mobile phone industries over the last decade suggests a number of factors that influence customer loyalty (see Table 1).